Simulation, Education and Ethics – What a Mix!

Public statements about ethics declare individual, group, or organisational beliefs, values, and principles to the world. They are intended to be clear statements about how their owners will interact with the real world. Of necessity, simulations, and games used for learning, warp and bend reality to generate replications of aspects of the real world creating opportunities to generate new insights and knowledge. Because of this it is difficult to imagine a text that could declare a clear and absolutely ethical boundary applicable to every setting. In this paper we examine how a complex web of forces informs the actions of individual simulationists as they design and choose activities to further education and research goals. While we use educational contexts as our primary lens, our aim is to initiate a broader discussion about ethical considerations across all simulation domains. We explore how different ethical frameworks interact with various simulation types, potentially leading to very different participant experiences. We propose that making implicit ethical stances explicit is essential for responsible simulation practice in any field. This work challenges simulationists to either demonstrate that they know, understand, and apply in practice their own espoused ethical stance, or are willing to spend time learning how to do so consistently and then share their experiences. Our aim is to foster a more nuanced understanding of the ethical dimensions shaping the field of simulations and games for learning.